Hudson County Sheriff's canine unit searches for juvenile in Hoboken

Google MapsThe Hudson County Sheriff's canine unit was searching for a juvenile near Second and Adams Streets in Hoboken earlier this afternoon.

Those walking in the area of Second and Adams Streets in Hoboken today may have observed members of the Hudson County Sheriff's canine units with dogs in tow walking the area.

A curious resident spotted the group and was told by the officers to move along when he inquired after their presence on the street.

Hudson County Sheriff spokesman Bob Knapp told Hoboken Now that the unit was searching for a juvenile Hoboken resident who was part of the county's ankle bracelet monitoring program and had left his designated area.

"They go to school, they go home. If they leave the location there's an alarm activated with our detective bureau," Knapp said.

The ankle bracelet program is meant for children under 18 years who are charged and found guilty of non-violent crimes such as shoplifting or truancy, Knapp said. In this case, the high school-aged student had left his home and as of 4:30 p.m., was still missing, officials said.

"It's been a very successful program and we've seen very few, if any, offenders going AWOL," said Knapp. "It enables the offender to rehabilitate in his or her home setting and go to school and it also alleviates over-crowding in the juvenile facility in Secaucus."